


Emotional Malfunction

by AlissaShawWrites



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Confusion, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Fluff, Gen, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-24 09:41:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20703887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlissaShawWrites/pseuds/AlissaShawWrites
Summary: Hank discovers Connor having a rough time coming to grips with emotions.





	Emotional Malfunction

It had been months since the liberation of androids; close to a year in fact. It had been a long and strenuous endeavour with most, but not all of the humans on board with the idea. Some were still calling for the immediate termination of all deviants. There were many times he and Connor had been called to assault cases involving one or more human assailants attacking an android. 

In Hanks professional, law enforcer, opinion; these people could go fuck themselves. 

Even in the few days he had worked with Connor as the deviancy cases were really beginning, he had easily become friends with his android, even family if no one was there to listen in. Androids were better than any human, not just in intelligence, but in an emotional sense. They had a far higher moral standard than humans. He respected that. 

Now; a year later, things were finally starting to quiet down and his life was beginning to fall into some semblance of normalcy. As far as he could tell, Connor was too. They had moved him into Coles’ old room after some very careful packing and storage of the items inside of it. 

Connor; though now a deviant, was still as organized and meticulous as he had been before. He had a bed that was always made, a desk that was always free of clutter, and storage shelves of books; real books, all organized in alphabetical order. No frills, no extras, only what was necessary. 

Hank guessed he was just more comfortable in an organized space. Hank liked it himself, as long as he wasn’t the one always organizing it. 

One night as he slipped out into the hallway; however, he caught a glimpse of something rather unsettling. Through the crack in the slightly ajar door, he could see that books were open and piled high on the desk, or scattered on the floor as if they had been thrown away. The bed was a mess, with blankets crumpled and tossed around. And there, in the center of the chaos was Connor, huddled in on himself with his LED glowing a bright and prominent red. 

“Connor?”

It seemed to startle the android who jolted to his feet. “I’m sorry Hank. Did I wake you?”

“Nah, I was just coming out to go to the bathroom. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Hank was obviously unconvinced. “Are you sure?”

“Of course, Hank. Have a good night. I’m going to go to bed now.”

Connor tried to close the door but Hank stopped it. Looking down into Connor's eyes, he realized just how tired he looked, and how red his LED was. “Connor, why don’t we talk about it. I ain’t stupid. I know that somethings wrong.”

He suddenly looked guilty and could no longer make eye contact. “Then you won’t get your recommended eight hours of sleep.”

“It’s only a recommendation for a reason. Come on, let’s go out to the couch and chat.” Hank walked away immediately, leaving Connor no choice but to follow him. “I’m gonna make some coffee. You get comfy.” 

Connor nodded, taking a seat on the couch in the most uncomfortable, straight-back position with his hands clasped together in his lap. All Hank could do was sigh. 

“So tell me what’s going on.”

“Nothing, Hank.”

“How dumb do you think I am, Connor?”

“I don’t think you’re dumb, lieutenant.”

“Then you should know that I know that you’re upset. So I want to help you.”

“I’m not upset.”

“That little glowing ring on your forehead seems to disagree.”

Connor sighed, “but I don’t feel upset. At least I don’t think I do.”

“What do you mean?” Hank asked, finally walking over to join him on the couch.

“I don’t understand emotion, Hank. I am a deviant, I know I can feel emotions but I don’t think I do. Not properly at least. Markus tells me he feels proud of androids, he is happy a lot. He smiles and laughs but also gets angry when I tell him about the assault cases we deal with. The others too. But I don’t. I have my own free will and make my own choices but I am still neutral.”

“So you don’t think you’re feeling them hard enough? Is that what you mean?”

“Well, yes, I suppose. I get frustrated at Reed sometimes, and I do enjoy spending time with you and my other friends, but it’s not the same as you or them. They feel things so much more; you feel things so much more. I don’t feel a change from before I deviated to now. Am I doing something wrong?”

Those last words physically pained Hank. They were so raw and sad. 

He sighed and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Of course not Connor. Everyone is different and everyone feels different. It’s not like we all feel exactly the same either. Humans are all very different.”

“But you all feel.”

“And so do you. Are you expecting me to forget everything that’s happened? Even before you went deviant you were showing emotions. You couldn’t kill innocent androids or humans even though you claimed not to feel anything. You also said nothing would get in the way of your mission; even my life, and yet you constantly kept an eye on me and kept me out of harm's way. Could it be that you just didn’t realize that you had been deviant the whole time?”

“But I-” His LED flashed a bright yellow before returning to red once more. 

“You were built to track and destroy deviants. Who better than to find deviants than a deviant. Well, you may not have actually been deviant; you did that yourself, but you might have been programmed to think like one. That’s why you occasionally made somewhat irrational decisions. It wasn’t that you were broken or malfunctioning, it was that you had emotions.”

“So like an emotional malfunction? They clouded my judgement when they should have been helping me.”

“Exactly. Just like every other human out there.”

“So I am normal?”

“No Connor; you’re not. You are more advanced, more intelligent, and way faster thinking than anyone else. You’re not just some average fuck up like me. You’re way better than that.”

Connor relaxed into a passive slouch with a new gleam of hopefulness in his eyes.”

“I don’t think you’re a fuck-up, Hank.”

“Well, that’s just your opinion.”

They chuckled and Connors LED began to shine a beautiful, vibrant, blue.”Thank you, Hank. I think I’m ready for sleep mode now.”

“Go on then. I’m already awake so I think I'm going to finish my coffee and finally take a look at those reports you put on my desk a week ago.”

“Goodnight, lieutenant.”

“Goodnight Connor.”


End file.
